Miska opened in Stockel last week, and we went almost straight away – all six of us. It is the third Brussels shop for this Lebanese ice cream maker, after the city centre and Uccle.
What it is
Artisanal Lebanese ice cream. The counter looks familiar, but the flavours come from Beirut rather than Bologna: pistachio, rose, orange blossom, mastikha, baklava, and ashta – the Lebanese cream flavour, scented with orange blossom. Next to those sit the ones every child asks for (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, speculoos) and a row of sorbets: mango, apricot, blackberry, lemonade.
Miska describes what it does as bringing back the taste of Beirut in its golden years, the sixties and seventies. We can’t judge that. What we can say is that it doesn’t taste like any other ice cream shop in Brussels.
What we had
The scoops are good on their own. But the reason to come is what they build around them.
- A scoop on a nest of kataifi. Crisp shredded pastry underneath, pistachio sauce over the top, a cloud of candy floss, crushed pistachio, and a rosette of cream on the side.
- Ice cream on baklava. Exactly what it sounds like: a generous scoop sitting on squares of pistachio baklava, with more floss on top.
- The layered cup. Kataifi, chocolate and pistachio at the bottom, soft cream and pistachio sauce on top – the Dubai chocolate idea, in ice cream form.
- A cone rolled in sprinkles. For the one who just wanted sprinkles. No complaints there either.
Pistachio ends up on nearly everything. Nobody minded.
Our take
Very, very good.
But this is not an everyday ice cream. What Miska does best is closer to a dessert than to a scoop on the way home: pastry, cream, sauce, floss. It is a treat, the kind you decide to have, and it is better for being kept that way.
To take home
Miska also sells its ice cream in tubs. We spotted ashta, mango sorbet (vegan) and pistachio; the labels say no preservatives and no artificial flavours.
Where
- Stockel – Stockel Village, Brussels. The new one, and the one we visited.
- City centre – Rue des Bouchers 32, 1000 Brussels.
- Uccle – Chaussée de Saint-Job 771B, 1180 Uccle (Place Saint-Job).
More on miskaicecream.com and on Instagram at @miskabrussels.